The Grand Marais Art Colony and Spirit of the Wilderness Episcopal Church are collaborating again on a spring theme exhibit entitled Biophilia: Sacred Inner & Outer Landscapes.
As with the exhibit last year on the Stations of the Cross, the show will run the two weeks leading up to Easter and will feature a wide range of artists and medias interpreting the new theme and exploring the intersection between the North Shore environment and the inner spiritual terrain. The exhibit curators are putting out the call for artists to participate in the show and 35 artists have already committed.
Last year’s collaboration on the Stations of the Cross picked up wellknown tropes from art and religion and invited local artists to bring them into a new perspective. As co-curator Reverend Mary Ellen Ashcroft said, “This year we decided to ‘throw the net wider’—moving away from a traditionally religious theme to one that comes more out of what we might call ‘spiritual geography.'”
“Many people are curious about the title word biophilia,” said Amy Demmer, director of the Grand Marais Art Colony. “It is a relatively new word that comes from the root word bio, meaning nature and philia meaning love of, and is described as the human affinity for nature and the living world.”
The exhibit curators assert that as “physical/spiritual beings, we are drawn to certain environments that deeply affect us. For many, the North Shore is that kind of landscape which roots us in something greater and more meaningful.” They hope through this exhibit, artists will be able to visually demonstrate what it is about this landscape that resonates so deeply with such a wide variety of people.
Artists are encouraged to work in the media of their choice to create a new work for the show. For more information, to participate in the show or for further prompts about the exhibit, contact the Art Colony at (218) 387-2737 or arts@boreal.org.
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